Events

03 Jul 2020|Noida | Amity University Noida

One Week On-Line Faculty Development Programme

 Amity Institute of Psychology and Allied Sciences (AIPS) in Association with Amity Academic Staff College, Amity University Uttar Pradesh organized and conducted one week FDP on the theme APPLIED PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES OF WELLBEING: S.P.E.E.D from Date-22nd to 27^th June,2020

The one-week FDP aimed at enhancing teaching, learning and research skills in the seven major streams of Applied Psychology i.e. Spiritual Psychology, Positive Psychology, Health Psychology, Psychotherapy, Employee and Positive Psychology, Educational Psychology and ICT, Developmental Psychology.

Renowned academicians of National and International repute and Experienced industry professionals delivered talks during the FDP to meet the following objectives:

1. To enhance the requisite knowledge base and promote research insights among the faculty members.
2. To enhance the skills and competencies for promoting the professional practices relevant to teaching in the streams of psychology and Allied streams.
3. To motivate the faculty members to cope with the unprecedented challenging demands of the present teaching and learning environment.
4. To promote effective practices of coping and wellness for restoring positive mental health in the present challenging environment.
5. To align today’s education with the fourth industrial revolution, meeting the needs of education 4.0 as per UGC.

Participants

A total of 227 (Amity: 86, Outside Amity: 141) participants from all across the country participated in the FDP. The participants were Faculty Members, Research Scholars, Counsellors, Mental Health professionals, Doctors, Special Educators etc.

The FDP in total had Eight Sessions spread upon Six days.

The detailed report of all the days is as follows:

Day 1 22 June, 2020

The FDP started on 22 June, 2020 with the Inauguration ceremony by Prof (Dr) Ranjana Bhatia, HOI, AIPS, Noida welcoming the Participants and the Guests. She shared with the delegates that the FDP is a step to take forward the Vision and Mission of Founder President Sir, pursuant to the motivation of Chancellor Sir and Support & Guidance of Vice Chancellor Madam.

Prof. (Dr.) Mamata Mahapatra, convener of the FDP, AIPS, gave an Introduction to the FDP. She briefed everyone about the objectives and relevance of the applied branches of psychology being included as themes in the FDP.

Further, Prof.(Dr.) Anand Prakash, Professor & Head of Psychology & Dean, International Relations (Humanities and Social sciences), University of Delhi presented his Inaugural Speech on “Applied Spiritual Psychology Perspectives”.

The major points of his talk were:

• The meaning and relevance of Spirituality, Mind and Body relationship in the context of dualism and various factors associated to it.
• The doctrine of dualism and the significance of every cell in human body. He quoted, “that every part is of human body has its own intelligence. They behave with certain kind of circadian cycle. Similarly mental mechanism has its own intelligence too. Therefore, mind and body are synchronized. Sometimes, it becomes a challenge to ascertain who the master is and who the slave is.”
• The elaboration of structural mechanism of brain and its hemispheric division and explanation of the system of left and right parts of human brain.
• Explanation of the relationship between Mind and Body by quoting “that they control our feeling and emotions in the perspectives of reality and evolution. The door of spirituality is open in all of us the reality comes with cosmic consciousness.”
• In addition to these, he also talked about the control versus automatic system of human mind and body, the zone of silence, virtues of will power, coherence, and the power of self-control in practicing spirituality.
• the concept of spirituality in the light of Buddhism and Vedanta philosophy.
• True bliss and happiness come by giving and sharing. The significance of reciprocal relationship is one of the key things in spirituality.

Day 2: 23 June, 2020

Two sessions were planned for the day namely:

Applied Educational Psychology and ICT in Research by Mr. Ajay Singh, Principal, Genesis Global School, Noida

Constructivist Approach to Teaching-Learning Process by Dr. Elizabeth Kuruvilla

Assistant Professor, School of Education, IGNOU.

The Major points of the two Sessions were:

• Teaching is purposeful that influences learning.
• The dynamic role of the Educator in the present scenario, where the educator is more of a facilitator.
• The utilization of ICT in research process is extremely dynamic in its approach.
• The learner driven approach in consonance with the Education 4.0 aspect.
• The utilization of the Learning cycle with 5 E’s – Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend, Evaluate.
• The enunciation of the Piagetian Cognitive Theoretical aspect being utilized in the present Education system.
  
   
  
  Day 3: 24 June, 2020

Two sessions were planned for the day namely:

Applied Developmental Psychology Perspectives by Dr. Nandita Babu, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, India.

Applied Developmental Psychology Perspectives: Psycho Education by Dr. Ralph Svensson

Psychologist, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnaeus University, Sweden

The major points of the Session were:

• Enunciation of the concept of basic versus applied research and emphasis on the fundamentals of research in the context of two dimensions putting it simply in three quadrants wherein basic and applied research fall on a continuum.
• The quadrants are required to contribute to each other wherein they substantially add on their relevance in meeting the common goal of improving human welfare.
• Since time immemorial human development processes have been very challenging and complex phenomenon. This journey is like a sea voyage that includes many ups and downs and is full of unpredictable happenings. This is a product of genetic, neural and environmental pursuit and venture.
• Developmental psychology should have a practical approach. It aims from knowledge construction to knowledge transmission. This can be attained by practicing activity based teaching like writing a review and critical reading.
• Various skills are required for a developmental psychologist for doing observation, video analysis, film analysis, biography analysis, interviewing, assessment tools and its use, and the issue of ethics involved in the discipline.
• Applied Scientists to ground their research in basic developmental findings and theory.
• Psychoeducation is an important tool in the treatment especially to be utilized for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.
• The Psychological Model of Explanation that describes the interplay between thoughts, feelings, bodily reactions and behaviour
• Affects, Feelings and Emotions in a continuum.
• Utilization of Psychoeducation in Suicide prevention program citing an example of the School-based Suicide Prevention Programmes: The SEYLE Cluster-Randomized, Controlled Trial.

Day 4: 25 June, 2020

A talk on Applied Employee Behavior and Positive Psychology was delivered by Prof. (Dr.) Bhaswati Pattnaik, Professor and Head, Center of Advance Study in Psychology, Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar

The main points from her talk were:

• Positive psychology as being asset based facilitative and preventive approach to human behavior and the basic drive towards good is inherent in human behavior.
• Humans are born with a propensity to good as supported by experiments at Yale infant cognition center in 2007 which states that babies as young as 3 months old can differentiate between good and bad and are attracted more to good.
• Application of positive psychology and the philosophy behind social and human services revolves around its vast use of the concepts of the field not only to psychology but as extending to economics, education, management, neuroscience and public health.
• Cultivating meaning at organizational as well as individual level to achieve integrity of identity, values and actions can be achieved when workplace satisfaction is enhanced.
• Various kinds of identities are at play in the individual’s life including the symbolic identity and structural identity and so on which are similar to several roles that one plays and if workplace identity is integrated to all others using workplace culture and values, growth can be attained within the person and the organization.
• The layered integrated framework by Lomas, Hefferon and Ivtzan (2014) that discusses the intersections of subjective-objective dimension with individual-collective dimension that gives the mind-body-culture-society spectrum. This brings about implication for wellbeing at four levels. While the mind is targeted through meditation and motivation, the body through exercise, culture through scholarship and citizenship, the community can be oriented through equal opportunities and CSR.
• When the discussion is moved towards intrinsic versus extrinsic motivations that guide employees to work towards development of self and organization, building upon their intrinsic motivation is primary and can be achieved thoroughly if one brings in the four quadrant development of the individual’s wellbeing.

Day 5: 26 June, 2020

A lecture on Applied Positive Psychology Perspectives  was delivered by Dr. Robert Rich, Counselling Psychologist, Melbourne, Australia.

The major points of his lecture were:

• Emphasis on the meaning and relevance of positive psychology in our daily lives with special mention of Dalai Lama, Mihály Csikszentmihályi.
• Focus on Hedonic adaptation and how by practicing adaption pain can be turned in a smile. Application of Acceptance and Commitment therapy helping in obtaining in a different view of the world.
• Cultivation of meditation as a habitual practice that can help individuals in remaining calm and relaxed during the time of stressors. He also quoted, ‘Whatever you attend to shapes your reality, just focus on positive’ and past is a mystery, future is the history and being in the present is present’
• This explains being in the present moment and enjoying the present. Staying in moment helps eliminating past anxiety. Furthermore he elaborated on happiness, People are made happy by accumulating experiences rather than possessions, Only two things matter in life: what you take with you when you die, and what you leave behind in the hearts of others. Everything else is Monopoly money. Live simply so you may simply live.
• People are made happy by accumulating experiences rather than possessions, “The quality of life does not depend directly on what others think of us or on what we own. The bottom line is, rather, how we feel about ourselves... To improve life one must improve the quality of experience” Mihály Csikszentmihályi
• Elaboration of concepts of Tolerance, forgiveness, Gratitude and explanation on how it helps in leading a a happy life.
• In addition he explained on being an apprentice to Buddha that is doing the service. At last he concluded that by focusing on equanimity and emphasizing on acceptance and human nature. If it is pain at present accept it and be in flow, burst with more challenges and think of life being good.

Day 6: 27 June, 2020

A talk on Applied Psychological Perspectives of Well-being was delivered by Dr. Sunil Mittal, Psychiatrist, CIMBS Delhi Psychiatry Centre, Delhi.

Dr. Mittal provided an apt culmination to the learnings gathered during the One-week FDP. He presented an amalgamation of all the aspects of Psychology and specifically focused on the application of Positive Psychology in Life.

The major aspects of his talk were as follows:

• Health practices and the investment in health care in the country are being overlooked. Very limited insurance policy can be found when it comes to mental health.
• In the context of pandemic of mental illness there have been a lot of talks and it has become a global issue. There requires a hedonistic approach in order to look for the answers for these crisis that have been existing since time immemorial.
• Assertion on the role of a teacher in nurturing human mind. They bring a unique kind of transformation to the society.
• In the same context, the relevance and role of higher education cannot be ignored. The purpose of higher education is not just to create more jobs and careers or work force or human capital, rather it liberates human beings. The examples of Nalanda University and Gurukul prove it wherein it was aimed to provide a better understanding and create a bond between a teacher and a student.
• Developing a scientific temperament is the aim of higher education. Builds character, creates mind, career development and research opportunities.
• Through joy of learning, joy of discovery and resilience, failure and happiness a teacher can make their students experience the purpose and objective of the field that will help them in reaching positive mental health practices.
• The quality of mental health services rendered and offered to laymen required to be relooked.

The FDP concluded with the concluding remarks by Prof (Dr) Ranjana Bhatia, she thanked everyone associated with the FDP. She reiterated the Vision of Hon’ble Founder President Sir, along with the Motivation of Hon’ble Chancellor Sir and Support and Guidance of Hon’ble VC Madam for the successful culmination of the One week online FDP.

Main Outcomes of the FDP

1. It enabled the learners to enhance the participants existing knowledge base in academia .
2. It increased the requisite professional practice skills relevant to teaching in the streams of psychology and allied sciences.
3. It provided opportunity for gaining knowledge about the required pedagogies in the field of teaching psychology and allied sciences.
4. It acquainted the participants with contemporary education and fourth industrial revolution, preparing them to meet the needs of Education 4.0.
5. It also provided the participants with a perspective to undertasn the Psychological Process and Therapies through a Cross Cultural Aspect.